About me

Hi, there! I’m Michelle Bruni – aka Teacher Mi.

With over 20 years’ experience and having an in-depth knowledge of the English language, my main objective here is to guide learners towards fluency, that is, being able to SPEAK ENGLISH.

Early in my career, the lack of pronunciation content and speaking practice in class made me realize that was one of the key reasons why students struggled when trying to express themselves orally.

Thus, the “solution” was one-on-one tutoring, in which students had the opportunity to effectively practice their speaking skills as well as receive personalized feedback on how to improve their pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary & grammar usage, and so on.

That’s how I’ve successfully turned hundreds of “mere students” into real English speakers. I feel, though, many more others could benefit from what I have to share, so here I am, online.

My method

My classes and workshops will invariably focus on the skill learners tend to struggle the most: SPEAKING. Thus, topics such as pronunciation, stress, intonation, silent letters, homophones will be constantly present.

What about Grammar, Reading, Writing & Listening? Of course they are all important and students should always cover the four skills when learning. However, over all these years, I have seen students develop those skills well , while leaving SPEAKING aside. Consequently, they can actually understand English, but are unable to SPEAK FLUENTLY.

Let me share my knowlege and teach you hacks to make this process easier. JOIN ME!

Testimonials

I had classes with Mi for over a year and it made a huge difference in my English, especially in my pronunciation. She made phonetics look so simple. I would never imagine myself enjoying phonetics and pronunciation awareness before her. Thank you Mi!

Mariana Magalhães

I had English classes with Teacher Mi for over 3 years instead of entering any course in college and it was the best decision I made back then. Improving my English as a second language made me discover and learn so many things and lots of them came to me as we were having classes. Later, it helped me get my current job, in which I’ve been for over a year now. It was a very profitable time I am so grateful for that!

Lucas Barsalini

She is an excellent teacher. The classes are tailored to my necessities and she improved my pronunciation. I totally recommend.

Lívia Queiroz

Teacher Michelle is special. Her class are dynamic and customized to each student’s needs. Her organization and dedication are impressive. Results come quite quickly. Both my children and I had 5 years of useful learning.
Highly recommend her!

Rachel Elias

Tips for practicing SPEAKING

Singing along – that’s an amazing exercise. You’ll have fun while learning. Find the lyrics of the songs you like and reproduce the sounds as accurately as possible. Through this activity you’ll not only  improve your pronunciation, but also memorize loads of vocabulary. Music is powerful! Take advantage of it. I’ve learned A LOT through music. Roxette, Queen & Bon Jovi were some of the best teachers I’ve had.

Imitation– Watching series? Listening to podcast? Take the chance to make it into an ACTIVE learning by repeating what is being said. Try to copy the speaker’s speed, intonation, and pronunciation. Five minutes should be enough for a good practice.  

Talking to yourself – Imagine a situation and think of the sentences you’d like to say. Especially useful if you’re going to have a doctor appointment, a meeting, a presentation at work, or even a dinner party. Preparation is KEY to success.

Recording yourself – listen to a dialogue/text and later record yourself reading that. You’ll realize it’s much easier when you do it mentally only, and that’s the trap. You may have the false impression that you will sound nice, because in your head, it does. Now SPEAK UP. A bit harder, uh? But after practicing a little longer, you’ll soon see the evolution.

Always try to find materials related to topics that interest you. It’ll definitely help keep you motivated.